Schedule

Since we’re spending three hours together once a week, I’ve set up the
schedule into “halves” for each class. We’ll meet for roughly an hour and a
half, take a fifteen minute break, and reconvene for the remainder of the
class. The first half of the class will either revolve around a guest or
around reading discussion. The second half may vary with reading discussion,
tool discussion, or getting hands-on with a tool.

Note that readings are due on the date under which they are listed. For
example, on September 29 we are discussing digital archives, so you should
spend the week prior completing the readings, assignments, and prior-to-class
exercises.

Exercise:

Introduction to Markdown, git, and GitHub. We will work in-class to introduce
you to GitHub and Markdown, a platform and a syntax that we will be using for
posting to the course blog. Ahead of class, please sign up for an account on
GitHub. During the week after class, please complete GitHub’s interactive tutorial for git and look at Scott Chacon’s Pro Git, in particular chapters 1-3 and 5.

Assignments:

Blog Post #1. Write about the digital archive you looked at and share
your thoughts about the project. Try to tie the archives back to the readings.
Think about how these projects relate to some of the issues, themes, and
challenges raised by the readings. The post is due by Saturday September
27 at midnight.

Discussion questions posted to the course blog by Sunday September 28 at
midnight.

Stuart W. Leslie, “The Biggest ‘Angel’ of Them All: The Military and the Making of Silicon Valley,” in Understanding Silicon Valley: The Anatomy of an Entrepreneurial Region, ed. Martin Kenney (Stanford: Stanford University Press): 48-67.

Exercise:

Introduction to Open Refine. Prior to class, do your best to complete
this tutorial on Open Refine/Google Refine. During class, we will
familiarize ourselves with Palladio and work with data you discover online.
This may mean also combining your experience with Refine. In class, use the
tutorial videos produced by the Palladio team to learn about the
platform and what it can do. Consult the course website’s References to find
potential sources of historical data, or work with the data you’ve
discovered in your research.

Assignments:

Blog Post #2. Write about your experience using Open Refine and the
challenges you worked through or questions that arose as you completed the
tutorial. What unique challenges are present with historical data? Are there
ways we can surmount these issues? In what ways can we reconcile the precision
expected by computers with the uncertainty of historical data? The post is
due by Saturday October 4 at midnight.

Discussion questions posted to the course blog by Sunday October 5 at
midnight.

Exercise

Introduction to Voyant Tools. Prior to class, complete the tutorial by Brian
Croxall, “Comparing Corpora in Voyant Tools,” and find historical texts of
your own and begin to use Voyant to analyze the texts. During class, we will be
introduced to MALLET and topic modeling, and you will work on completing the
tutorial by Shawn Graham, Scott Weingart, and Ian Milligan, “Getting Started
with MALLET,” The Programming Historian.

Assignment:

Blog Post #3. Write about the readings and your work with Voyant. In
what ways can we use such tools to analyze historical information? What sort
of insights can we anticipate? Are there limitations in the tool that stand
out to you? Speculate on how we might examine Silicon Valley’s history through
the use of textual analysis? The post is due by Saturday October 11 at
midnight.

Discussion questions posted to the course blog by Sunday October 12 at
midnight.

Exercise:

Introduction to Google Maps Engine Lite. Prior to class, complete the
following tutorial on Google Maps Engine: Jim Clifford, Josh MacFadyen, and
Daniel Macfarlane, “Intro to Google Maps and Google Earth.” In
class, we will take a look at Neatline and Omeka for creating spatial exhibits. Consult the Resources page on the course website to
find potential sources of historical data, or work with the data you’ve
discovered in your research.

Assignment:

Blog post #4. For this week’s blog post, after you’ve completed the
Google Maps and Google Earth tutorial, begin by creating a historical
geolocated Google map using a map of your choice from the David Rumsey
Historical Maps Collection or using maps you’ve discovered in your
research. Include screen captures or embedded maps in your post. Reflect on
spatial history and the usefulness of analyzing historical events spatially.
How might we understand the history of Silicon Valley through spatial history?
Due by Saturday October 18 at midnight.

Discussion questions posted to the course blog by Sunday October 19 at
midnight.

Exercise

Introduction to Gephi. Prior to class, complete this tutorial for Gephi
by Martin Grandjean. Create a network using historical data provided Grandjean, find practice datasets on the Gephi wiki, or use data you’ve uncovered in your own research. Play around
with different layouts and algorithms and take note of how it changes the
network and your interpretations of the network.

Assignment:

Blog Post #5. Reflect on the ways historians could use network analysis
in their work. What sort of relationships might networks allow us to see? What
sort of networks did you create and what did you learn about the different
algorithms? What sort of historical questions could we pose about Silicon
Valley using networks? Try to include screenshots from your Gephi exercise. Post due by Saturday October 25 at midnight.

Discussion questions posted to the course website by Sunday October 26 at
midnight.

Assignment:

Blog Post #6. Reflect on the ways we can take advantage of the
affordances of the non-linear nature of digital narrative in communicating
information and new knowledge about the past. Historical events rarely unfold
in the linear fashion we often present them in books. Can hypertext or
interactivity help us more effectively communicate the past? Can new
narratives be crafted that better explain contingency and complexity of the
past? Due by Saturday November 1 at midnight.

Discussion questions posted to the course website by Sunday November 2 at
midnight.

Nov 10: NO CLASS

Work on projects. Schedule a time this week to check-in with the instructor on the progress of your project.

Nov 17: The Futures of Digital History

You will present on the progress of your research to the class. Come prepared
to talk for at least five minutes, with an additional five to ten minutes of
question and answer. Your presentation should focus on the research your
conducting, the historical question(s) you’re asking, examples of the digital
work you’re completing, and how digital methods are helping address your
research questions.

Assignment:

Blog Post #7. Synthesize everything that we’ve talked about and what you
have seen over the course of the quarter. What do you envision will be the
future of digital history? Do you think digital history will play a role in
the way we analyze and interpret the past? Are there ways that digital history
fall short and where can it improve it? Post due by Saturday November 17 at
midnight.